Attachment 3 Addendum to 52.212-1 and 52.212-2 Instructions_ Evaluation Criteria.docx

Solicitation# HT001125R0053 Title: Comprehensive Clinical and Dental Drug and Pharmacology Database

ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-1

(1) Period of Validity. The Offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer valid and firm for 120 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers.

(a) Offer Submission Instructions. Offeror is required to meet all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and technical requirements. Offeror must clearly identify any exception to the solicitation terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale. Offeror must acknowledge any and all amendments to the solicitation. The Government does not intend to hold discussions; however, the Government reserves the right to hold discussions, or negotiations, if the Contracting Officer finds it necessary to do so. The Offeror’s initial offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to seek information through clarifications or communications with the Offeror. The offer shall not simply rephrase or restate the Government’s requirements but shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet the requirements.

1) Points of Contact. Email communication to Points of Contact (POC) for this solicitation should be addressed to the Contracting Officer (CO) at Jeanna.M.Butler.civ@health.mil and Contract Specialist (CS) theophilus.o.agyare.civ@health.mil located in Falls Church, Virginia, USA. Include the solicitation number in the subject line of all email documents.

2) Questions. Questions may be submitted to CO and CS, by email. Questions shall be submitted to POC, no later than Thursday 12 June 2025 at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. Follow-up/additional questions will not be accepted after this date and time. The Government reserves the right not to provide a response for any Offeror question/clarification. If the CO determines that a request cites an issue of significant importance, the Government shall provide a written response to all Offerors. Responses to these questions will be posted no later than Tuesday 17 June 2025 at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.

3) Electronic Submittal: All proposals shall be submitted electronically, via email to Theophilus Agyare (CS) theophilus.o.agyare.civ@health.mil with a courtesy copy to Jeanna Butler (CO) Jeanna.m.butler.civ@health.mil no later than Friday, 20 JUNE 2025 at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. The firewall utilized by the Government contracting office does not authorize or accept zip files. Modifications, amendments, or withdrawals of proposals should also be made email. All communications shall be submitted through email to the POC identified above. Hard copies of proposals will not be accepted. Any proposal received after the exact time specified for receipt shall be treated as a late submission in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212-1.

(2) Offer Content and Format. An offer shall consist of a Cover Letter and two (2) Volumes:

· Volume 1 for material documenting the Offeror’s Technical Capability to meet all requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW).

· Volume 2 for all Price information (including Attachment 5 - Pricing Sheet).

Each volume shall be written on a stand-alone basis so that its contents may be evaluated without cross-referencing.

Volume 1 is limited to twenty-five (25) single-sided pages. Pages should be numbered consecutively throughout the document and not by sections. For any sections of a proposal with a defined page limit, pages exceeding the specified limit will be removed and not forwarded for evaluation.

The following sections are not subject to page limits:

· Cover Letter

· Title page

· Table of Contents

· Glossaries

· Volume 2 - Price

The following Volumes are subject to the indicated page limits:

· Volume 1 – Technical Capability (Technical Approach Narrative) – 25 Pages:

· Volume 2 – Price – Unlimited

An offer page is 8.5 inches by 11 inches (portrait format) with 1-inch margins and single-sided. Text shall be single-spaced in Times New Roman font of no less than 12-point font. Tables, graphics, captions, and callouts may use 10-point font. Narrative shall be submitted in MS Word or searchable PDF Format. Detailed pricing information shall be submitted in tabular format in MS Excel (by including additional tabs to Attachment 5 - Pricing Sheet, or providing that in a separate MS Excel document). The Offeror’s company name (no logos), the date, solicitation number, and volume number shall be included on each page of the offer (this information may be included in a header/footer). All pages of the offer volumes shall be numbered, using a uniform numbering system. Page numbers, headers and footers may be outside the page margins and are not bound by the font and point size requirement. Any offer containing proprietary information shall be clearly marked. All pricing information shall be addressed ONLY in the Price Volume (Volume 2). Each volume shall contain a glossary of all abbreviations and acronyms used, and with an explanation for each. Glossaries do not count against the page limitations for their respective volumes.

(3) Cover Letter Instructions. The cover letter shall reference the solicitation number and identify all enclosures being transmitted as part of the offer. The cover letter shall include the Company Name, Address, Contract and Government Entity (CAGE) code, and System for Award Management (SAM)/Unique Entity ID number. The cover letter shall identify the name, address (if different from the company address), telephone number and e-mail address of the individual authorized to provide clarifications and have communications with the Government. Cover letters shall state offer validity at least 120 days from the date of submittal and shall provide a statement specifying the extent of agreement with terms, conditions, provisions, and representations and certifications included in the solicitation. Note: All proposal preparation costs will be the sole responsibility of the Offeror. The Government will not reimburse any firm for their proposal preparation costs.

(a) Cover letters shall indicate receipt of all solicitation amendments by incorporating one copy of each Standard Form 30 or by listing each solicitation amendment. The cover letter may include any other information required for compliance with the solicitation, but not specified for inclusion in a quote volume. Contents of the cover letter will not be evaluated against the evaluation criteria specified in 52.212-2.

(b) Cover Letter Attachment. Attach the completed FAR and DFARS Provisions identified in the solicitation that are not already included in the company’s SAM Representations and Certifications report. The submitted provisions shall be signed and dated by an official authorized to contractually obligate the Offeror.

(c) The cover letter and cover letter attachment have no page limit.

(4) Proposal Preparation Instructions.

(a) VOLUME 1 - TECHNICAL CAPABILITY: Limited to no more than 25 pages.

1) TECHNICAL APPROACH – Required submissions:

· Technical Approach Narrative

The Technical Approach Narrative (not to exceed 25 pages) should describe the capability of your organization to satisfy the requirements of this solicitation. The proposal should be prepared simply and economically, providing straightforward, concise delineation of capabilities to satisfactorily perform the contract being sought. The proposal shall not merely offer to perform work in accordance with the requirements documents but shall outline the actual approach as specifically as possible. Repeating the requirements without sufficient elaboration is not acceptable. The Government shall not assume that an Offeror possesses any capability unless specified in the proposal.

The Offeror shall provide documentation or plan demonstrating its capability to successfully provide the following requirements in the SOW:

Sub-Factor 1a Content (SOW Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.5, 2.1.8, 2.1.12 and 2.1.21).

Sub-Factor 1b Functionality (SOW Sections 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3 and 2.2.6) Sub-Factor 1c Accessibility (SOW Section 2.3) Sub-Factor 1d Support (SOW Section 2.4)

(b) VOLUME 2: PRICE: Unlimited.

1) Price shall be submitted by the Offeror separately as Volume 2 and will be evaluated separately from the non-price factors. Volume 2 must provide the breakdown of prices at a level of detail to conduct meaningful price analysis. All pricing information documentation must be included only in Volume 2. Under no circumstances shall any cost or pricing documentation be included elsewhere in the proposal.

2) Provide pricing detail for all the CLINS in the SF1449 Continuation Sheet Schedule and Attachment 5 - Pricing Sheet, to include all option periods and FAR 52.217-8 pricing.

3) The Offeror shall submit a price narrative (in searchable PDF format) and a pricing spreadsheet (Attachment 5 - Pricing Sheet in Excel format inclusive of formulas). All proposed prices shall be inclusive of all costs to successfully perform the requirements of the SOW.

Pricing information shall be provided as follows:

a) The Government requests all spreadsheets to be provided in Excel format containing formulas that can be manipulated and that have been verified for correct mathematical computations. A zero-dollar figure in the proposal means that the line item shall be provided at no charge to the Government. The cost/price portion of the proposal should include at a minimum, the following information as applicable:

1. Detailed Breakout - Prices should be broken out by appropriate CLIN (i.e., CLINs for base year and all option periods should be broken out separately).

2. Subcontracts - For a proposed subcontract, provide a description of work, contract type, total cost, and proposed profit/fee. Provide the cost/price analysis for price reasonableness for any major subcontracted services. Also, provide the same cost/price information in Excel to the maximum extent practicable.

4) The negotiated prices will become fixed prices on the contract. In the event the Government extends services under the authority of FAR 52.217-8, "Option to Extend Services", unit pricing for the last option period exercised preceding the extension shall remain in effect. These prices are already determined to have been evaluated at the time of contract award.

(End of Addendum to 52.212-1)

ADDENDUM to FAR 52.212-2

BASIS FOR CONTRACT AWARD: Award will be made on a competitive best value basis, using best value tradeoff among price and non-price factor. A best value tradeoff process will be utilized when the Government elects to award to other than the lowest priced proposal, or other than the highest rated non-price proposal. Reference 52.212-2, EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2021) for the relative importance of price and non-price factor. By submission of its offer, the Offeror accedes to all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and technical requirements. Failure to meet a requirement may result in an offer being determined unacceptable.

The Government intends to award one Firm Fixed Price contract without discussions, but may enter discussions, if it is in the Government’s interest to do so. If the Government enters into discussions, such discussions will be limited to the number of proposals that permit efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

The Evaluation Process shall proceed as follows:

A. Evaluation Process:

1. Technical: Offers shall be evaluated in accordance with (IAW) provision cited in FAR 52.212-2 - Evaluation of Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

2. Price: Price proposals shall be analyzed for price reasonableness to determine if proposed prices are within fair market range.

3. Prior to award, a responsibility determination will be made as described in FAR Part 9.

The award decision order of importance are as follows:

Sub-Factors 1b (Functionality) and 1d (Support) will not be associated with the tradeoff process as only those non-price factors not rated on an “acceptable vs. unacceptable” basis can be used in the tradeoff with price. However, an Offeror must receive an Acceptable rating for these factors in order to be eligible for award.

For purposes of the tradeoff analysis, Factor 1 Technical Capability, is more important than Factor 2, Price.

The Factor 1 subfactors (1a and 1c) are not weighted equally. Sub-Factor 1a (Content), is the more important than Sub-Factor 1c (Accessibility). Price is not irrelevant and will contribute substantially to the source selection decision. As the combined range of Factor 1 Technical Capability narrows, Factor 2 Price will become more significant.

B. Evaluation Criteria:

1. Factor 1: Technical Capability (Technical Approach Narrative): - This factor is met when:

The proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the Comprehensive Clinical and Dental Drug and Pharmacology Database requirements and objectives, and demonstrates, in sufficient detail, a convincing methodology, work plan, and rationale to accomplish requirements and objectives under any resultant award beyond simply restating or rephrasing the Statement of Work (SOW) tasks. The proposal demonstrates a reasonable, well-thought-out approach and methodology, work plan, and rationale to accomplish the following requirements of the SOW:

Sub-Factor 1a Content (SOW Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.5, 2.1.8, 2.1.12 and 2.1.21).

Sub-Factor 1b Functionality (SOW Sections 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3 and 2.2.6) Sub-Factor 1c Accessibility (SOW Section 2.3) Sub-Factor 1d Support (SOW Section 2.4)

· Sub-Factors 1a (Content) and 1c (Accessibility) will be evaluated IAW the Best Value Tradeoff Evaluation Standard Definitions below:

Best-Value Tradeoff Evaluation

· Sub-Factors 1b (Functionality) and 1d (Support) will be evaluated using Rating Standards of Acceptable or Unacceptable:

Technical Capability (Technical Approach Narrative) then will be assessed an Adjectival Rating using the Criteria below. Only proposals receiving an overall Technical Capability rating of Acceptable or higher will be considered for award.

Rating Standards for Technical Capability

2. Factor 2 Price: Price will be evaluated separately from the non-price factor to determine fair and reasonable pricing. No Adjectival ratings will be used to evaluate Price. The Government will determine price reasonableness by comparison of the proposed price to the market price derived from market research or from adequate price competition. To establish a fair and reasonable price, the Government shall obtain any data as necessary.

3. Proposals receiving a minimum rating of Acceptable in the Technical Factor; and, determined to be fair and reasonable in Price, will be considered for award. The Government may award to other than the lowest priced proposal or other than the highest rated non-price proposal. The Government reserves the right to make no award, depending on the quality of proposals received and the availability of funds. All proposals will be evaluated for compliance with the Instructions to Offerors and any proposals found non-compliant may be excluded from evaluation and from award consideration.

(End of Addendum to 52.212-2)